This invention relates generally to folded-cap containers, and more specifically to methods for forming a folded-cap container from a blank of sheet material.
Containers fabricated from paperboard and/or corrugated paperboard material are often used to store and transport goods. Such containers are usually formed from blanks of sheet material that are folded along a plurality of preformed fold lines to form an erected corrugated container. At least some such containers are provided with folded caps that are configured to interface with a lifting blade of a forkless lift truck. One example of such a lifting blade for a lift truck is the LIFT-A-PLIANCE® system provided by the Basiloid Products Corp. of Elnora, Ind.
The folded caps are required to support a weight of the container, and the product contained within it, when the container is lifted by the lift truck. In addition, at least some such folded-cap containers are required to have compression strength sufficient to withstand an alternative side-clamp lifting method, wherein the container is lifted and transported using clamps applied to opposing sides of the container. At least some known folded-cap containers require internal bracing components, such as inserts formed from wood, to facilitate meeting such compression strength requirements. The internal bracing components typically are added within the container by hand after, and/or at the same time as, the product is packed in the container. Thus, the use of such internal bracing components increases both a materials cost and a labor cost of using such containers.
In addition, at least some such folded-cap containers are designed to receive a product attached to a pallet. More specifically, the product and four-sided pallet are slid inside the correspondingly four-sided container. The product and pallet are not secured or attached to the box, and the use of a four-sided container to slide over the four-sided pallet may limit a stacking strength of the container.